A spontaneous trip to Australia

When it comes to planning a trip to Australia I like to be organized, down to having spreadsheets covering all contingencies. But not always! Sometimes, wanderlust comes over me, and I make a spur of the moment decision, and book a spontaneous trip to Australia.

Which is what I did a couple of weeks ago. As I was settling down for the evening, I was on the American Airlines app on my phone, just browsing dates for good fares, or excellent points redemption offers, when I found an unbeatable fare. Typically, anything around $1,200 round trip from DFW (my "local" airport) to Sydney is a good price, but recently, prices have been hovering around the $2,500 mark. That night, however, I saw a fare from the US to Sydney for under $800 return. I immediately hit "add to cart" and locked in the price, as one does (or is it just me that spends way too much time on the American Airlines app?).

I then decided to check the American Airlines app to see if there were any bargains to be had by redeeming miles. Surprisingly, for the dates I was looking at, I was able to log in First Class fares to Sydney for 75k American Airlines AAdvantage Miles, which is an amazing deal, when typically, an economy ticket will cost 40k AA Miles, and Business Class has been showing for 450k AA miles. So, instead of paying for a cash fare, I used my miles, and booked the trip in First Class, which comes with many advantages, including a lay-flat bed, which is nothing to be sniffed at on a 16+ hour flight to Australia!

The following day, I applied for 7 days' vacation, which was immediately approved.

Once my vacation time was confirmed, I booked a flight to Maroochydore, on Australia's Sunshine Coast (in southern Queensland) with the intention of surprising my parents with a quick visit, followed by a leisurely few days in Sydney, my favorite Australian city (sorry, Melburnians...)

Beyond that, I had no real plans (isn't that the point of a spontaneous trip to Australia?) other than to just relax, oh, and eat some of my favorite Australian foods - I recommend you read this post for some "must try" foods!

I flew out to Sydney on the evening of March 19, and arrived back on March 31. It was less than a two week trip (I had 10 nights in Australia), but it was a nice break!

I'll be writing some posts over the coming days with a recap of the things I did while I was away, but in the meantime, if you want to see some gorgeous Australian scenery and watch a fun movie, I highly recommend "Anyone But You", starring Glenn Powell and Sydney Sweeney.